A Slow Seduction
by sherlymate
Summary: Ronald has a duty. A duty to his man-pride. A duty to Eric. To William. He must prove he is able to flirt shamelessly to get his way. And his way happens to be to William's bed. Eventual M. Ronilliam
1. Chapter 1

Like any good thing, its counterpart came to bite eventually. And Ronald's roaring headache was proof of that.

He and Eric had gone out drinking last night (again), both agreeing to not drink too much since they had work the next day, but alas… the glasses had piled up (again) and before they knew it they had been kicked out (again) with a mighty long bill that had burned their pockets.

Ronald didn't remember much. That was his biggest worry whenever he went drinking with Eric, not remembering. Not knowing what happened, who he talked to, what they did… Which was why he usually didn't get drunk often. Except last night had been different.

They'd been celebrating.

Not an engagement or a promotion or anything worthy of celebrating, really.

They were celebrating a bet. A very stupid one that was proclaimed somewhere between Ronald's sixth or seventh shot. The two grown men had giggled over the idea and Ronald, silly, drunken Ronald, had accepted the challenge.

Throughout their next few drinks (which was when Ronald's memory _really_ started to fail him) they had discussed the details of this particularly odd bet. Ronald didn't really remember much, except giggling. A lot of giggling. Whatever the bet was about, it must have been quite silly.

"Bugger! Just shut up!" Ronald roared, going to the farthest corner in the tight office to escape the loud noise.

He'd gone for some coffee, forgetfull of the machines' loud bonks and whirrs as it poured out the hot, black beverage. His head was pounding and he covered his ears, accomplishing little as the machine (slowly, but) gradually filled his cup.

Once it stopped Ronald dropped his hands and gave the machine his very best glare, narrowing his eyes to slits and cursing under his breath. He grabbed his cup and stomped back to his desk to find Eric seated at his own.

"'morning," he grumbled as he sat down. Eric had his head in his hands. Ronald noticed he was wearing yesterday's jacket; it was all rumpled and there was a stain on it from last night's drinking.

Ronald didn't blame him; it had taken him five tries to get his shoes on the right foot this morning.

Eric mumbled back some unintelligible greeting and raised his head. His hair wasn't brushed and he had black strands poking out of his cornrows. His eyes resembled Ronalds'; half-shut and bloodshot with bags drooping below.

They sat in silence for awhile, Ronald trying to imagine working for eight hours (or more, depending on his particular proclivity for overtime) and Eric trying to remember last nights' events. He squeezed his eyes shut in concentration and winced, it only made his headache worse.

He looked up at Ronald after a moment and grinned. Ronald stared back at him, his eyebrows creasing. He didn't see anything worth grinning about.

His grin turned into a full on smile and within seconds Eric was bent over laughing, banging his hand on his desk and sending papers to the ground. Ronald was as confused as ever. What the devil—

Ronald smiled, biting his lip at the thought. He couldn't stop himself from bursting into laughter as well, hiding his face in the crook of his elbow with his shoulders shaking. Laughing so hard only worsened their headaches but it was just too funny not to laugh.

Their incessant laughter brought curious onlookers and annoyed receptionists to their door. They stared at the happy duo in confusion, wondering what could be so funny to bring tears to their eyes at eight-thirty in the morning.

"What on earth is going on here?" demanded a familiar voice. Eric and Ronald looked up to see Alan with his thin arms crossed over his chest, giving them both a deadly serious face. Eric stopped laughing at once and stood up, his chair falling over in his hurry. Ronald's laughter quieted into a soft chuckle before he too, understood and shut up.

"Uh, we were just um…" Eric tried to explain lamely.

"Laughing," Ronald finished for him.

Alan raised a thin brow at both of them. "Care to share why you were both disturbing the whole floor before they could start work?" He might appear small and almost powerless but Alan could compel Eric (and most of the time Ronald as well) into confessing almost anything. He admired their boss, William Spears and when he wasn't around to direct these fumbling idiots, he took it upon himself to carry out orders.

"Does it have something to do with last nights' drinking?"

"No."

"Yes."

They replied simultaneously. Alan gave Eric what was usually known as "The Look". He knew his partner was lying, it might not even be important why, but he liked asserting dominance once in a while. It made up for his weakened appearance.

"Yes…" Eric mumbled sheepishly, casting a glare at Ronald. Alan wouldn't approve of last nights' bet and now they wouldn't have a choice but to tell him. Bloody fool.

When neither of them explained what was so funny Alan sat at his desk, glancing at the door to see the mob had all but disappeared. He started his work while the other two stared at each other, wondering why Alan wasn't interrogating them. They shrugged and followed the brunette's example, Eric reaching for his fallen papers.

"Morning all~!" A simpering voice called out just as red heels appeared in the doorway. Grell gave them all a bright smile before hopping onto her chair, propping her feet up on her obviously ignored pile of work for the day.

When no one answered Grell just pulled out a nail buffer. "Whatever's the matter darlings? You're all so deadly quiet, did I miss something?"

Neither Ronald or Eric said anything, merely keeping their heads down over their work. Grell gave Alan a questioning look. He rolled his chair over to Grell's desk and recited the story.

Eric looked up, seeing Alan and Grell gossiping together over this mornings' excitement. He rolled his eyes and tossed a bunched up piece of paper at Ronald. It hit his glasses but it accomplished in getting Ronald's attention.

"What?" he whispered.

Eric grinned, "You remember the bet?"

Ronald grinned back, "Oh yeah. 10 days was the deadline right?"

Eric nodded. He glanced up and saw Alan and Grell listening to their whispered conversation. His grin vanished.

They continued their whispered gossiping, leaving Eric slightly worried. He turned back to Ronald.

"You remember the rules we set out? No drinking, and it has to be consensual," he whispered to the blond. Ronald nodded.

"Does that mean you're not going to drink for ten days?" Alan asked aloud, he and Grell sporting the same smirks.

"Nope," he replied with a sly smile.

Alan opened his mouth but William appeared in the doorway before he could say anything.

"Good morning all, good to see you're all here on time," William's gaze fell on Ronald, "for once."

"What can I say, your smile drives me to work every morning." Ronald winked, a huge grin plastered on his face. William pursed his lips but didn't say anything, leaving their office just as Eric guffawed.

"Burn~"

Once everyone had quieted down they retreated to their desks and started the days' work. Ronald and Eric kept sneaking glances at each other, smirking and snickering beneath Alan's disapproving glare. Grell remained oblivious and buffed her nails between papers, keeping quiet and out of trouble for once. Things were running so smoothly you'd have thought someone had died (no pun intended). William was constantly checking in on them like little children to make sure he wasn't imagining this peaceful morning.

After a couple of hours of deadly silence, Grell pulled out her portable radio and soon enough soft jazz filled their office. It wasn't often they were graced with music, usually the office (theirs in particular) was full of commotion and coming and goings and music just didn't fit in to their busy day.

Ronald stretched back into his chair and ruffled his hair, followed by a quick fix of his glasses. A traditional Knox move that meant he was on the prowl. Eric picked up on the gesture and giggled to himself as he started on a new sheet.

Alan's brow furrowed when Ronald got up and muttered an unconvincing "be right back". He looked at Eric questioningly but his partner remained mute. Shaking his head, he decided to leave them be and get on with work.

Ronald stood in front of William's office door and straightened his tie. He rarely ever buttoned up his shirt or adjusted his tie but he felt that this was a moment when it was necessary to impress.

Clearing his throat he decided to go in without a knock. Annoying people made them look at you. And that was exactly what Ronald needed.

"Hey Spears," Ronald greeted nonchalantly, running a hand through his dual-colored hair. William gave a soft sigh of exasperation at the lack of a knock but resumed his work none-the-less.

"What is it that you need Knox?" Ronald slid into one of the two armchairs situated in front of William's desk. Purely for décor really, Reapers didn't really sit and chat with their superiors.

"Oh nothing, really. Just you, between my legs, preferably soon," Ronald answered bluntly. William's pen scribbled out of control for a moment and he looked up at his flirt of a subordinate.

"I _beg your pardon_?"

"You heard me." He winked.

William didn't bother giving in to his silly taunts. It was the same ordeal with Grell. Bothersome. Tiresome. Relentless. William hoped to the Gods Ronald wasn't developing the same kind of infatuated-crush on him as Grell had. He would have to start handing out restraining orders.

Ronald pressed on, "Were you raised on a farm?"

The question took William by surprise of course and he couldn't stop the confused look cross his face.

"Of course not Knox, all Reapers are created here and hence have little to no memories of their human past, merely 'coming back to life' as you could say, as a grown being—" William tried explaining to Ronald, absolutely ruining his pick-up line.

"Spears! Spears, it was a joke." Ronald raised his eyebrows with a smile, hiding his disbelief that his boss couldn't spot a pick-up line when he heard one. Especially when it was directed at him.

"Let's try this again, were you raised on a farm?"

William remained stoic. "I'm not going to sit here so you can ridicule me with your incessant lines, get back to work."

Ronald stuck his lower lip out in a childish pout. William huffed and started scribbling away.

"Were you raised on a farm?" Ronald tried for the third time,

"_Knox_."

"Cuz you sure know how to ra~ise a cock."

William slammed his pen on his desk and gave Ronald a sharp look, "_Will you get back to work_?" he snapped.

Ronald was now treading on thin ice but decided to keep going. Once you got started it got pretty difficult to stop.

He smiled teasingly and twirled a lock of blond hair between his fingers, trying to get William's undivided attention.

"You know sometimes, I just wish that you were my shins."

William stared at him, refusing to look away.

"So I could bang you all the time."

William's eyebrow twitched. Ronald smiled victoriously.

"Flatteries will get you nowhere Knox, keep that in mind," William retorted.

"Oh it does get you places, actually. As _I_ would know."

Silence.

"We should go do some math together…" Ronald started. William narrowed his eyes at him as if daring him to keep talking.

"Just subtract our clothes, add a bed and divide your legs," Ronald ticked the reasons off on his fingers. "And then it goes 'and hope we don't multiply' but that's only for the ladies."

"You find this amusing do you?"

Ronald nodded, unable to wipe the smile off his face.

"Well let me tell you that you could do with a trip to the Undertaker's and learn a thing or two," William shot back. Ronald feigned hurt but took that as his cue to leave. The door clicked shut and William let out a long-awaited annoyed and slightly exasperated sigh.

Ronald was chuckling as he sat down at his desk. He and Eric shared a look.

"How'd it go?"

"Almost kicked me out."

He was all out of horrible pick-up lines anyway.

* * *

><p>New fic I've been working on for <em>ages<em>!

Please review, it'll encourage me to work on chapter 2 :3


	2. Chapter 2

Nothing felt quite as good as looking good.

Not that Ronald was ever _not_ good-looking.

But when you decided to dress it up once in a while, you couldn't help but feel a certain sense of pride and faith in yourself. Setting your hair differently and putting on something nice, making yourself different from others, making a positive, bold statement. Exactly what Ronald was looking for.

Several impressed whistles followed the foxy man as he strutted down the corridor, absolutely content in the attention he was getting from all the secretaries.

He poked his head inside his shared office to briefly greet his fellow workers and grab last night's work, barely pausing to nod at each before continuing his quickly paced walk to another office not too far. The door was cracked open, meaning the boss was just in. Ronald tapped lightly on the door and swung it open once he heard a soft "come in".

William was stacking papers. His favourite pastime, Ronald was sure. He looked up from his papers and gave Ronald a blank look.

"Good morning…?"

"Good morning Mr Spears," Ronald replied, chipper as ever. He flashed one of his smiles and causally sat on the edge of his desk. His smile grew as William's face turned incredulous. "Knox?!"

"Yup, how's it hangin'?" William very nearly smiled at Ronald's improved appearance but it was quickly wiped off his face once he recognized Ronald's words.

Eric had often used the phrase 'how's it hangin' with his male friends, and would often greet William the same way. He was forced to contain his snickering whenever William replied with 'very well thank you'.

William wasn't amused. "Aw come on Spears, can't take a joke?" Ronald asked playfully. He reached up and carefully tucked a stray piece of hair behind his ear.

To further impress his senior, (his pick up lines were absolutely _to die_ for but he opted for something a bit more appropriate) he'd slicked his hair almost identically to Will's, although a few strands would pop out occasionally, refusing the hefty amount of gel Ronald had used that morning. His tie, usually askew and lazily knotted, was now perfectly centered against his collarbone and lay atop a crisply buttoned white dress shirt. His jacket was freshly laundered and ironed (a first for Ronald) and he'd even had time to shine his shoes with a little elbow grease before skipping to work.

He hoped his efforts paid off, he'd never spent that much time on his clothes before and it had nearly made him tardy.

William seemed impressed, putting a small smile on Ronald's face. He raised a brow before returning to his papers, putting some in a certain pile while discarding others entirely. A single word popped out from all the others and caught Ronald's attention; _France_.

He'd heard something about the French division and how they had been attacked by a demon or two lately. Apparently they had been dangerously powerful and had managed to devour several if not most Records. Reapers and their HQ had suffered greatly. He wondered if one of them was going to go abroad to help out. What an adventure; he'd never left England, not even for work.

"Haven't you some work to get started on Knox?" William mused, snapping him out of his thoughts.

"Hm? Of course I do. Is it true that the French division had a demon break in?" Ronald queried, resting a leg on William's desk.

William's pen stopped moving. He looked up at Ronald. Why did he care? As long as he'd known Ronald he had never seen the blond pick up a newspaper. Was he making small-talk? Useless. He had work to get back to.

"What? Is there something in my teeth?" Ronald's eyebrows rose slightly.

Something very strange happened at that moment. William's heart gave a small _pang. _Ronald looked… endearing, for that moment. His blond curls protruding from his head, his large comical glasses and his young face confused William. Why was this happening?

William shook his head, mostly to himself but also to console Ronald. There was nothing wrong with him.

As the day stretched on Ronald's completed pile of work was steadily growing, as was his confidence for this bet. It was mid-afternoon, just after lunch really, when Grell and Ronald had a Reaping a couple blocks down. The old coot was scheduled to have a heart attack once he stepped out of his house. It wasn't an impressive death, one could say, but then again, few were when everyday was death in and death out.

They were on their way to pick up their Scythes when Grell brought up his sudden change in wardrobe.

"Ronnie, don't get me wrong, you're a charming man who'd look dashing in _anything_, but what on earth made you think to dress like dear William?" She raised her thin, red brows in question.

"Just felt like changing it up a bit," he replied with a sly smile. As Grell fussed over her replacement Scythe and how William really shouldn't have taken her chainsaw away just for misconduct, his smile vanished.

He felt guilty. Grell always talked about and flirted with Will but now that Ronald thought about it, he didn't know whether this was just an infatuation or a real crush. Did Grell really harbour feelings for the stoic Reaper? Or was it just for play? He felt terrible having helped create this stupid bet and taking part in it. He hadn't considered an important aspect. Grell would never forgive him if this bet worked out as planned. Worse, Ronald would never forgive himself. He might just have to call it all off and as much as it might ruin Eric's fun, he wasn't one to break Grell's heart.

The red Reaper kept chatting about her Scythe and the latest gossip on fellow co-workers who had managed to modify their Scythes a certain way or whatnot. Ronald wasn't paying too much attention, he felt horrible. He felt so horrible in fact, that he didn't notice where they were going and ended up colliding with a slightly taller Reaper.

A slightly taller Reaper who smelled _delicious_. He looked up, and paled.

It was William.

"Hello Knox, Sutcliff. Off to your collection I presume?" He glanced at their Scythes, sending them on their way.

"That's right darling, we'll see you later~."

Ronald winced.

He hadn't taken two steps when he nearly collided with someone else. Bloody hell! He had glasses for a reason.

"Ronald?" Came a sweet voice. He looked up and recognized the lady in front of him as Scarlett Meriweather. He'd gone out with her once or twice in the past but it hadn't been serious.

But she still looked gorgeous with her round face and curly hair piled up high. She was quite the looker, with all those curves.

"Uh Scarlett, hi, how are you?" He scratched the back of his head nervously, unsure of this situation. The man he was supposed to get into bed with on his left, his friend and 'opponent' on his right and an ex talking to him. This couldn't be good.

"Quite well thank you. I can see you're doing pretty good yourself," she winked at him, "I was wondering if you'd be up for a party Friday night. Say 'round seven? You'd love it, we're hiring a live band," she gushed. She hadn't told him where it was going to be held but he assumed her place.

Truth be told he hadn't partied in a few weeks (he didn't count drinking with Eric as 'partying') and the idea sounded fantastic but… he held back. William was probably listening to their conversation and he wanted to keep up the good act.

"Sorry Scarlett I have work to catch up on, I'll try to make it to the next one alright?"

She seemed downcast at his reply but smiled nonetheless. "Alright then. If you finish early, drop by will ya?"

"Sure. See ya 'round," he smiled at her as she turned and left. Not too bad. Taking a quiet deep breath, he pivoted on his heel to face Grell and William once more. William's eyes widened slightly in amazement. Ronald Knox turn down an invitation for a party? Never. Ronald smirked. That's right, he could be responsible when he wanted to be.

"Let's go darling before we're too late." Grell hooked her arm through his and they set off down the hallway once again, Ronald glancing at William one last time before they turned the corner.

The cold air bit at them as they hopped several ceramic rooftops before stopping on top of a sweet shop, looking down at the door where the will-be-deceased would be coming out of. Grell's hair whipped around in the wind, making her look even more deadly than usual. Ronald gulped involuntarily.

If Grell found out what he and Eric had concocted, surely she would go bat-shit crazy on them. Ronald hadn't been injured badly in the past but imagining Grell's chainsaw striking him in the chest or chopping off a leg wasn't pleasant. It sent chills down his spine.

"You all right darling?" Grell wondered.

"Yeah, just a tad cold is all."

"Hopefully this'll be over before long so we'll be right back in our cozy office soon enough." She smiled. Ronald couldn't manage to return one, he still felt dreadfully guilty.

"Oh look, there he is." Grell pointed to an old man with a cap coming out of the building across the street. He looked in pain and was probably wheezing, although it was difficult to hear from their altitude. He clutched his chest and before any passersby could ask if he was alright, he fell to his knees. With one last croak he fell over, face first into the dirt.

Ronald looked over at Grell before jumping down but Grell had been too busy examining her sharp, red nails.

Ronald flinched. "Let's go," he murmured, jumping down and landing softly on a thin coat of snow.

Grell landed right beside him, scythe at the ready. Before a word could be spoken she had already leaped forward to collect his soul. Moments later, it was done. Ronald didn't understand why William made them go in pairs.

"Well my heels are soaked. Let's head back." They turned and hopped back onto the roof, jumping across various homes and shops to get back to their warm office.

"I'm fucked," Ronald whispered in Eric's ear as he sat down in his chair. Eric's hand fumbled with his pen and he turned to look at Ronald.

"We forgot about Grell."

Eric narrowed his eyes at him. "You don't think the misses is doing it just for fun?"

Ronald shook his head. "Rather not take any chances."

"Do… do you think we could still carry on, without the redhead finding out?"

"No, William might let it leak, or something might happen. She's bound to find out—"

"Find out what?" Ronald's blood froze. He and Eric shared a look of doomed horror before he turned to face none other than Grell herself.

* * *

><p>Let me know what you think :D<p> 


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